No Beta 04: UGLY BEAUTY

Week of 19th of February

Hi there. Welcome to this week’s roundup.

Fanquan is talking about…

#10 种地吧

Become a Farmer

Season 2 of neiyu’s first agricultural reality show released an official poster today. The tagline of this iQiyi project is “believe in the power of the soil” (相信土地的力量). It is a “劳作纪实互动节目”, “labour reality-documenting interactive programme”, where a dozen young male celebrities are sent off to manage a plot of land and a farm in a rural village. A lot of similar precedents are elsewhere already: I’m thinking of Clarkson’s Farm by Amazon (UK), or Three Meals a Day by TvN (South Korea). 

A friend of mine watched the first season and this is her two-word review: “healing” and “spiritual” (有神性). The content is comfortably simple and slow-paced. The scenery is calm and unedited. The cast is deliberately chosen to admit no A-listers, most of the men are “overcooked” small-time idols with average looks. They appear on camera without any styling or makeup, even in promotional photoshoots. This was a conscious decision by the production team, the Head of Marketing for the show quoting an audience comment that “Earth is the best beauty clinic” (土地就是最好的医美). Boys who are labouring authentically and naturally look hopeful, dependable and strong, he says. 

I’m reminded of the popularity of Vareihnaz, a farmer’s rock band that I and

Jake

wrote about here, and the rise of Zhongyong men I commented on in the last issue. There’s also something to say here about the subtle propaganda that is almost certainly fed into the show (The cast shot a video for Zhejiang province’s Office of Culture and Tourism for promotion). 

My problem with it is, why all men?

#13 姚安娜新剧搭档张颂文

Yao Anna co-starring with Zhang Songwen in new series

Yao Anna, the daughter of Huawei’s CEO and the younger sister of Meng Wanzhou is probably the biggest nepo baby in neiyu right now. A singer-idol-actress whose three-year career has already consisted of numerous renowned reality series, 1 EP and several appearances in dramas, Yao’s about to become Zhang Songwen’s co-star. The latter made his name with The Knockout and is a veteran actor who’s been in the industry for over a decade. Netizens are once again criticising the insane nepotism of Yao and the lack of fairness within entertainment. When you’re backed by Huawei, a Harvard graduate and a debutante ball attendee who’s so privileged already can dive into the cake and take away most of the “资源” (resources, meaning opportunities in the entertainment industry) that thousands of others can’t reach. 

I suspect that behind the hate of Yao lies a similar sentiment for Jackson Yee’s bianzhi incident where the main point of contention is class disparity and popular discontent. It just shows again how entertainment is simply not apolitical and as tangled in social issues as anything else.